TenantTallkk GBA A Newsletter of Georgia Building Authority Helen Scholes, Executive Director Volume 5, No. 1 Spring Issue Recycling Saves Since January 1,2000, the Georgia Building Authority Recycle Services Division has recycled 732 tons of material. The success and savings resulting from this task could not be accomplished without the participation of other agencies and Georgia Building Authority employees. The 732 tons of recycled material converts into the following savings : TREES SAVED 12,584.25 GALLONS OF WATER SAVED 5,181,750.00 CUBIC YARDS OF LANDFILL SPACE 2,220.75 KILOWATTS OF ENERGY SAVED 3,035,025.00 POUNDS OF AIR POLLUTANTS SAVED 44,415.00 DOLLARS SAVED IN LANDFILL COSTS $25,907.49 See Recycling, page 4 Parking and Transportation Assistance For State Employees Save on gas and lower maintenance expenses! By Carletta Henderson Are you tired of the hustle and bustle of traffic jams, car maintenance and gas costs from your commute to work? Is parking also an undesired expense or hassle? The Georgia Building Authority (GBA) operates and manages a State Employee Commuter Assistance Program (SECAP) for alternative transportation. The program includes carpooling/ Rideshare, shuttle service for carpooling, vanpooling, public transit/MARTA subsidies and guaranteed ride home (GRH) conveniences. Carpooling: Riding to work with people who live or work near you is a great way to meet new friends, reduce the cost of gas and minimize necessary auto maintenance and repairs. Three or more See Transportation, page 3 Increased Presence of GBA Capitol Police For Pedestrians' Safety According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Atlanta metropolitan area is reported to be the third most dangerous large metropolitan area for walking, behind Fort Lauderdale and Miami. By David Simmons The GBA Capitol Police Division is seriously concerned about the safety of pedestrians on Capitol Hill. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Atlanta metropolitan area is reported to be the third most dangerous large metropolitan area for walking, behind Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida. In an effort to enhance the safety of pedestrians on Capitol Hill, GBA Capitol Police has assigned additional personnel to assist pedestrians as they cross streets and to regulate vehicular traffic. Pedestrians can help ensure their safety by practicing the following Safety Tips : 1. Pedestrians should use sidewalks whenever they are safely available. 2. Pedestrians should obey traffic signals and/or traffic officers. See Capitol Police, page 3 Current Vanpool Contact List Vanpool costs vary county by county. Eight or more riders are needed. (**List may change without notice.) Rules and regulations for vanpools may be requested from GBA Parking Office at 404-656-3251. Description Acworth County Cobb Driver Dianne Long Van# Phone# 130 3-3600 Bremen Haralson Nan Blair 158 3-7417 Bremen Haralson David Robinson 161 3-6029 Canton Cherokee John Stanfield 162 6-5447 Conyers Rockdale Sheila Collins 133 6-3450 Conyers Rockdale C. McGiboney 149 6-9743 Covington Newton Penny Parker 159 6-3903 Fayetteville Fayette Jerry Routon 155 7-8514 Fayetteville Fayette Lester Scott 140 6-3651 Griffin Spalding Victoria Aleman 137 6-3630 Griffin Spalding Winnie Alston 142 1-6177 Griffin Spalding Marie Bond 144 624-7577 Griffin Spalding D. Gillenwater 148 624-7588 Griffin Spalding John Howard 163 6-7416 Griffin Spalding Derrick Rogers 150 624-7577 Griffin Spalding T. Young 147 7-4245 Jonesboro Clayton Jim Burton 153 6-5377 Lawrenceville Gwinnett Larry Thompson 154 6-2793 Locust Grove Henry Kathy Gillespie 127 1-9056 Marietta Cobb Judy Geiger 156 6-3726 McDonough Henry Ursula Dingler 160 1-5039 McDonough Henry Michael Work 146 6-3611 Newborn Newton Butch Betts 145 223-4800 Newnan Coweta Mark Puckett 141 6-3615 Peachtree City Fayette Charles Ivey 164 6-6152 Powder Springs Paulding Terry Carter 157 7-4422 Snellville Gwinnett Jim McGibeny 132 6-1746 Villa Rica Carroll Theresa Case 152 1-6076 Villa Rica Carroll Tracy Chism 139 6-7898 Woodstock Cherokee Rhonda Pierce 136 1-5838 Capitol Transportation Continued from page 1 Police Continued from page 1 riders take turns driving one another to work on a daily or weekly basis. Cost is $3 per group, per month. 3. Pedestrians should not jaywalk. Always cross at corners, marked crosswalks, or signaled intersections. Rideshare: Rideshare participants are matched based on proximity of home addresses and worksite addresses. The Rideshare 4. Do not assume that a green program is adminis- light, a walk signal, or a tered through the crosswalk means the street Atlanta Regional is safe to cross. As some Commission (ARC). drivers may disregard traffic Applications may be rules, be aware of obtained from the vehicles even when you GBA Parking Office, 1 Martin Luther have the right-of-way. King Jr., Drive. 5. When crossing a Shuttle Service: street, pedestrians should A shuttle service is available to stop at the curb, or edge of transport carpoolers from the Juvenile the street, and look left, then Justice parking lot at Capitol Avenue right, then left again, before and Fulton Street. A State van will stepping into the street. pick up riders in the mornings from Keep looking for cars while 6:30 am to 9 am and from 3 pm to 5 crossing, and remember, pm in the afternoons. Each person walk. Don't run. will be delivered to and picked up from their place of employment. 6. If you see a car approaching, wait until it passes. Then look left, right and then left again until no cars are coming. Vanpooling: A vanpool service is available to individuals working in or around the metropolitan Atlanta area. Subsidized vanpool costs vary county by county 7. Brightly colored clothing but are less expensive than driving makes it easier for drivers to and park- see you during the daytime. ing per- When walking at night, sonal dress to be seen. Wear vehicles. special reflective materials Costs on shoes, caps or jackets to range from reflect the headlights of cars $27.56 to coming toward you. $56.08 depending on the number of riders 8. Be aware of limited and the total round trip mileage. Rules visibility in rainy conditions and regulations for participants in a as well as the extra time and vanpool can be obtained from the distance it takes vehicles to GBA Parking Office. Drivers ride free stop. but are responsible for the storage and operation of the van. GBA Motor Pool maintains the fuel, service and repair of vans as needed. Punch Cards: GBA provides a "parking punch card" to vanpool and carpool riders. The card can be used for three free parking days each month at the Pete Hackney parking facility located on the corner of Butler and Decatur Streets. Additional parking after the complimentary three days will require a $3 entrance fee. Public Transit: MARTA offers full and part time State employees a discount to purchase monthly MARTA cards. Employees can purchase cards through their personnel coordinator on a monthly basis for $30, $15 less than the normal $45 MARTA card cost. During ozone season, May through September, GBA will reduce cards an additional $2 to encourage more participation in SECAP. Schedules and maps can be obtained through MARTA. Guaranteed Ride Home: If you have an emergency and cannot wait for your normal ride home, the Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) is available to help. GRH provides either a taxi or rental car for 24 hours to employees who have an unforeseen/unscheduled emergency. The ride is provided without cost to employees although guidelines and limitations are applicable. To register for the program, contact Nancy Negris at 404-657-7407 or Susan Berryman at 404-463-6440. GRH does not cover personal errands, a missed ride home, scheduled medical appointments, natural disasters, scheduled overtime, business related travel or job related injuries. Recycling Continued from page 1 The success of Georgia's State Government Recycling Program is dependent on participants placing only recyclables in designated containers. GBA currently recycles white and colored bond paper, copier paper, notebook paper, manila folders and tab cards, envelopes, carbonless forms, Post-It Notes, newspapers, magazines, blueprints, "redboard" type folders, brown paper, cardboard and books. Staples and paper clips do not have to be removed from the paper. Trash, food, office equipment, refill containers, construction debris as well as paper materials soiled by food, oil, grease or solvents should not be placed in recycle containers. Dispose of these items properly by using trash bins. Toner cartridges require a special pickup to prevent spillage and are only recycled by GBA under certain conditions. Special containers have been identified for recycling aluminum drink cans and are marked "for aluminum cans only". Recycling protects and saves the environment. For questions or assistance, contact the GBA Re- cycle Services Division at 404651-5924. WORK CENTER NUMBERS Team South (404) 651-8670 Team Peachtree (404) 657-4422 Team North (404) 656-3273 Judicial Bldg., Trinity-Washington , Health Bldg., Archives, Legislative Office Bldg., 244 & 254 Washington St., Mitchell-Pryor, 130,146 & 276 Memorial, 1050 & 1150 Murphy Ave., D.O.T. and 209 Pryor 2 Peachtree Tower & Annex Bldg., 15 Peachtree, Zero Mile Post, Olympia Bldg., 90 Central Avenue Parking, Lower Wall Street Parking and Pedestrian Plaza Ten Ways To Chase Away Stress #1 MLK, #7 MLK, Motor Pool, Agriculture Bldg., Floyd Bldg., Pullman Yard, Capitol Education Center, Georgia Plaza Park, Daycare Center, Tradeport, 330 Ponce (Clark Harrison Bldg.), Butler St. Parking, Pete Hackney Parking, GA Plaza Park Parking, Police/Command Post, Steve Polk Plaza Parking, #1 Parking, State Capitol and the Freight Depot 1 Take deep breaths. 2 Take a walk outside of the office. 3 Say no to what you don't have time to do. 4 Leave work on time. 5 Lower demands you put on yourself. 6 Ask questions and communicate with coworkers. 7 Take care of taxing tasks in the morning to get them out of the way. 8 Look at large projects as a series of steps to complete one by one. 9 Laugh at least once a day. 10 Live for today. Don't dwell in the past or worry about the future. TenanTtalk A Quarterly Newsletter of GBA Helen Scholes, Executive Director Phone: 404-656-3253 Fax: 404-657-0337 Submission Information: Carletta Henderson, Editor Georgia Building Authority 1 MLK, Jr., Drive, Atlanta, GA 30334 carletta.henderson@gw.gba.state.ga.us Phone: 404-463-0732